Your Intellectual Property

Introduction

Intellectual property (IP) rights provide legal protection for some of the most important aspects of a business, for example, the name, logo, design, internet domain name and sometimes the product itself.  IP rights provide a mechanism for companies to prove their ownership of brands and prevent others from copying or ‘free-riding’ on their brand investments.

 

What is intellectual property?

Intellectual Property (IP) rights are exclusive rights given to persons over their creations.  IP rights are not permanent as they usually only give the creator an exclusive right over the use of his/her creation for a certain period of time. These rights reward and encourage creative work.

 

Different types of IP rights

  • Registered Trade Mark- a sign which can distinguish your goods and services from those of your competitors. It can be, for example, words, logos, or a combination of both.
  • Registered Design- a legal right which protects the overall visual appearance of a product.
  • Unregistered Design Right- automatic protection for the internal or external shape or configuration of an original design
  • Copyright- automatic protection for original literary, artistic and musical creations, along with other categories of creative works
  • Patent- protects new inventions and covers how things work, what they do, how they do it, etc.

Take a look at our legal guides covering all the different types of IP rights to see whether they are relevant to you and your business.

 

Source: www.ipo.gov.uk